memory_alphafandomcom-20200223-history
Future Imperfect (episode)
:For the Pocket TOS novel of the same name, see here. After an away mission, Riker wakes up 16 years later. Summary The [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|USS Enterprise-D]] detects unusual readings from an M-Class planet near the Neutral Zone. Captain Picard sends Commander Riker to lead an away team to investigate whether the Romulans are involved. The mission is aborted after the surface unexpectedly fills with methane gas. The away team falls unconscious and is beamed up. Riker awakens in sickbay. He learns that he is now sixteen years into the future when Dr. Crusher explains to him that he is recovering from a virus he picked up on an away mission sixteen years ago. This virus has caused a form of amnesia, destroying all his memories from the moment he became infected to the present. Riker tries to piece together what has happened in the sixteen years since that away mission. He is now Captain of the Enterprise, a position he has held for the past nine years. As he enters the bridge, he is pleased to see that Data is now his first officer. He is also surprised to see that his helm officer is a Ferengi ensign. Captain Riker temporarily places the Enterprise on alert when a Romulan warbird decloaks. He is then informed that the warbird was expected. The Enterprise opens communications, and Admiral Picard appears on screen. Admiral Picard and Ambassador Tomalak have arrived to sign a peace treaty between the Romulan Empire and the Federation. Captain Riker has been a key figure in these negotiations. Riker also learns that he has a son named Jean-Luc, after the admiral. While Riker talks with his son, the young boy mentions his mother. Later, Riker tries to access images of his late wife, and he realizes that he is not in the future. The computer shows him an image of Minuet, a woman who never really existed. She was merely a holodeck creation. Riker goes to the bridge to tell everyone that he has discovered the lie. He confronts his first officer, who cannot complete computations as fast as the real Data would. Riker demands to know the truth. It seems that this has all been a holodeck fantasy put on by the Romulans for their own purposes. The holo-images vanish, and Riker finds himself with Jean-Luc, apparently the only real character, who helps him escape from his would-be Romulan captors. Eventually, the "real" Jean-Luc slips up by referring to "Ambassador Tomalak" when Tomalak in reality was only a Romulan commander. The boy now reveals that he was stranded here by his parents intentionally to save his life, and given technology up to the level of a sophisticated holodeck. He has lured Riker into this because of his desperate need for a surrogate parent. Riker agrees to take him back to the Enterprise. The boy now reveals his true identity as an insectoid (but still a needy boy). Riker says, "to me you will always be Jean-Luc." Memorable Quotes "Shut up!" "I beg your pardon?" "I said shut up! As in close your mouth and stop talking." : - Captain Riker to Admiral Picard after he discovers the future is false. Background Information * Riker, in the virtual reality, comments on the unlikelyhood of a Ferengi ensign, though Nog would become an ensign for real just seven years later in the DS9 episode "Favor the Bold". *A funny moment happens shortly after Riker blows out his birthday cake candles. Troi asks him, what he wishes for and it seems Jonathan Frakes forgot his lines ("music lessons") for a while, as he takes a very long pause before he responds and nearly blows the line (look at Marina Sirtis' eyes before he speaks the line and how she cracks up after he does so). * This episode's title is a play on words that works on many levels. The false reality created by the alien for Riker was inaccurate (or, imperfect) in ways that allowed him to find out what was going on. More interestingly, the title seems to be a reference to grammar, only there is no 'future imperfect' verb tense, just as the reality that was created for Riker is also false. Links and References Guest Stars *Andreas Katsulas as Tomalak *Chris Demetral as Jean-Luc/Ethan *Carolyn McCormick as Minuet (Min Riker) *Patti Yasutake as Alyssa Ogawa *Todd Merrill as Gleason *April Grace as Hubbell *George O'Hanlon, Jr. as Transporter Chief *Dana Tjowander as Barash References Alpha Onias system; Alpha Onias III; Altairian encephalitis; Barash; class M; coma; compression attenuator; Curtis Creek; Curtis Creek program; ''D'Deridex''-class; [[IRW Decius|IRW Decius]]; Earth Outpost Station; Ferengi; Fictional Starfleet uniform; Fornax Disaster;Greenburg, Mister; holodeck; hydrogen; ''Melbourne'', USS; Miridian VI; Nelvana III; Onias sector; Outpost 23; Parrises squares; Romulan Neutral Zone; Starfleet Command; trombone; VISOR. Category:TNG episodes de:Gedächtnisverlust nl:Future Imperfect